Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 25th September 2015
Sep 25, 2015
25 September 2015
Dear Parents
Thank you, Year 1, for leading our Harvest Assembly this morning- you were fantastic! It was a wonderful first class assembly of the year. Your confidence, from the beginning to the end, as you marched in holding up your banners dressed as various vegetables and the delivery of your words was quite incredible for children of just 5 years old. You have certainly set the bar high for the other classes to follow! Thank you to Mrs Davidson for arranging the assembly and to Miss Warburton for her support.
Thank you to all parents for your donations which were presented by the children during the assembly. We raised over £370 for Water Aid; the food parcels were taken to Bethany House and Little Sisters of the Poor.
Visit to Bethany House
Year 5 walked to Bethany House Residential Home this morning to sing Harvest songs and talk to the residents. This is always one of the highlights of the year for the children and for me. Once again, after singing beautifully to the residents, the children chatted comfortably with the ladies and gentlemen about stories from the past and present. It was lovely to see the generations together, both gaining so much from the experience. The children were full of the conversations they had had on their return to school and can’t wait until it is their turn to return to Bethany House in Year 6. Thank you Bethany House for your warm welcome and the very popular refreshments!
Out and About – Eid Said!
I visited a Year 5 RE lesson on Thursday. They are studying the importance of the prophet Muhammad to Muslims’ daily lives. The class first reminded themselves of all that they had learned in their previous lesson. Mrs Davidson asked the children to explain who Muhammad was. Alexander said, ‘He was the last of the prophets.’ Suzanna then explained that a prophet is someone who has had a direct conversation with God. Olivia D added that he went to a cave to meditate and Caisey said that he went there to get away from the city. Mrs Davidson asked what city this was and Amelia answered, ‘Mecca’. The children continued to answer questions, showing their interest and how much they had understood from the last lesson. Before starting the new lesson, Mrs Davidson explained that today Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha also known as the greater Eid or the festival of sacrifice. Haris explained that this commemorated Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his only son Ishmael. Mrs Davidson also said that you can say, ‘Eid Said’ (Happy Eid) to your friends. The lesson then went on to talk about the Hadith which recorded Muhammad’s teachings. The children listened, absorbing every fact and continued to answer and ask questions with interest. They then moved on to working in groups by discussing some of the Hadith sayings and what we can learn about Islam from them. Once again, I was impressed by the children’s level of maturity and understanding and I was confident that they would be able to answer any questions just as well in the recap next week.
Thank you 5M and ‘Eid Said!’ to all our families who have been celebrating Eid al-Adha.
Our visit to Haigh Hall
On September 22nd, we went on a school trip to Haigh Hall Country Park. When we got there, we had activities in the spooky, dark and damp woods. We had to search for mini beasts and I found some horrible, disgusting slimy stuff. So I followed it and found a tiny garlic snail! We were told why it was called a garlic snail because it really did smell of garlic! We had to move logs to find the mini beasts which were really heavy, but we worked as a team and together we did it. Grace 4D
The next activity for our group was the butterfly making. First we had to sew our butterfly together then put the stuffing in. After that we put the antennae in. Next was the best part…we got to decorate it! Mine was a yellow butterfly with pink thread called Flutter. Ellie 4S
When we did our mini beast hunt, we got to go in the woodlands and explore. I was very proud of my find. I found a millipede and a black beetle. The variety of creatures was amazing. Other people found worms, snails and strange garlic snails! Ziyad 4D
We went outside, luckily it was sunny, to construct a bug hotel. This consisted of a round piece of wood with holes drilled into it, some branches to make a roof and string attached so it could hang from a tree. Brian said that it would take about 3 weeks for the bugs to find a home in the holes. It was then time for lunch and to have a chat. It was good to see Mr Drake tucking into his ham and cheese sandwich! Bebe 4D
After lunch, we went on a mini beast hunt. We were given magnifying glasses and bug collectors to catch our beasts in. I found a snail, a slug, a shield beetle, a toad, a worm, a vicious beetle and a spider! I really enjoyed our school trip. James 4S
Our next activity was Art outside in the woods. We got split into 4 groups and did natural Art using things we found in the woods. My group made a snail and coloured it in with twigs and leaves. It took us 45 minutes! I felt really proud of our group for making the snail. Ivan 4D
For our next activity, we still stayed in the woods and collected branches, twigs, berries and leaves to make a nature picture. My group used our twigs and branches to make a large centipede. Finally our trip came to an end and we had to go inside to collect all our belongings and make our way to the coach. This trip was fantastic! Zahara 4S
Football v Rossall
All the senior boys played against Rossall in blustery conditions. The boys were very excited with many of them playing in their first competitive game of the term. Our A team played attractive possession-based football and created numerous openings without being overly decisive in our finishing. A return of just one goal belied the quality of the attacking play produced. This was another very positive performance. The B team provided a spirited display, full of commitment and desire. We got penned back into our own half during the latter portion of the match and struggled to fend off the Rossall attacks before eventually succumbing and conceding three goals. Good effort, boys! Mr Turner
In the game I watched, after a tentative start, the Highfield players managed to start passing the ball around and really stretched their opponents. They were also helped with excellent clearances from defence by Shaylen. Roan, taking advantage with a number of strong runs and good dribbling skills, managed to score two goals. Rossall fought back and scored a goal before Alexander pulled off an excellent save to keep Highfield in the lead. In the last quarter of the game, the boys upped their work rate, putting real pressure on the Rossall goal. Roan managed to take advantage of this to score his hat-trick and Highfield won the game 3-1. Congratulations to all the boys who took part and thank you to Rossall for their hospitality.
Netball v Harris
The Year 5 and 6 netball teams had their first match against Harris on Wednesday. All the girls have been training hard during games lessons and at netball club. The girls are beginning to pass and move with confidence across the court and are quickly developing their ability to think tactically with set pieces and gameplay. There was a fantastic atmosphere inside the sports hall and Highfield were commended by the opposition for our fair sportsmanship throughout all of the matches. Highfield won a match, drew a match and lost a match. Well done to all the teams for a brilliant start to the season! Miss McShane
The All Weather Pitch - update
There have been a few teething problems with the all-weather pitch, however, these have been resolved and we should see real progress in the next couple of weeks with the turf going down. The children should be on the pitch when they return from half term. We have also drained the grass area and will be providing some overspill car parking by the long jump. We have some exciting sporting events planned once the all-weather pitch has been completed and we will let you know the details once they have been confirmed.
Quad Playground in the morning (Reception and Year 1 children)
To tighten up on the security and safety of your children, from Monday, please drop off your child at the Reception classrooms and 1D where your child will be supervised by a member of staff between 8.15 and 8.30am.
Entrance Exams
Good luck to our Year 6 pupils who are sitting the Lancaster and Clitheroe Grammar Schools’ entrance exams tomorrow.
Merit Awards
RD: Frank RF: Jaya 1D: The Whole Class 1W: Talia 2M: Tia
3M: Eryk 3J: Yawar 4D: Elizabeth 4S: Evie 5H: Mohamed and Oliver 5M: Olivia D
6H: Matthew
Thought for the week
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. Henry Ford
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
